Our God is a God of Love and Acceptance:

It is coming up on almost six years since the fire that destroyed the Church building in Minnedosa, and disrupted the lives of many ... since then life has moved on, people have forgotten the lessons that were offered, and many have simply turned their back on the horrendous events of that terrible night, and the ongoing repercussions that continue to resonate throughout the community of Minnedosa and the lives of those affected by the fire and the loss of the building.

For some, things are 'all better now', while for others (and I'd dare to say that this group far exceeds those who say 'it's all better') the effect is still being felt ... they say time heals all wounds, and while that might be true, untended wounds fester and become infected and in time can kill thier host ... Pretending it's all better serves no one, particularly the Church we are called to be ... moving on and ignoring the hurt and pain of our neighbours doesn't bring healing, it just means things linger and fester ...

Fortunately though, despite the best efforts of the willingfully blind, healing (the very Grace of God in action) comes and we that receive it are better for it ... Time does heal all wounds, but ONLY when there is honesty and openness ...

This week I once again found a comment on the posting I offered in 2007 when someone took the example of the fire and said it was 'proof' that God hates Goths ... this notion of God hating any one continues to be a ludicrious affront to all things Faithful, and shows the misuse of faith that people are capable of when they are overwhelmed with fear.

Our God is a God of love, and despite our best efforts to the contrary, our God will never be thwarted by our shortsightedness, our fears, and our insecurities ... the fire in Minnedosa and the events in the five years since underscores the folly that is experienced when people fail to surrender themselves to God ... fortunately, God's whisper continues despite the best efforts of those who fear the light (a reader's comment from the blog posting of Jan 21st 2007):

I do consider myself goth as well as catholic. Thank God for people like you, who understand that god is a force of love, not hate and that those who preach hate in his name only make the faithful look bad. Admittedly, I can be a bit violent at times (being a gamer, a goth, and asexual means that I'm an easy person to hate, and the large amounts of bullying at an early age have caused me to be a little to quick to cure intolerance with a knee to the crotch)and I do not go to church as much as i ought to (the intolerant fools sorta do a good job in scaring people away). Honestly, internet being what it is, these people are one of three things.

1) Hateful fools who I desperately hope god will cure.

2) Forum trolls being offensive, in need of psychiatric help to deal with underlying emotional conditions.

3) Intelligent people making a stealth parody of the above two and just did too good of a job. (yes these sorts of things are way more common than people realize)

ps, the odd name comes from a WoW alt

To those who claim "it's ALL better now" ... one day you WILL be called to account for your actions ...